Dynamic One punches ticket to Travers with Curlin Stakes win
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Nearly four months ago, when Dynamic One made the lead in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, he couldn’t finish the job, getting run down late by his 72-1 stablemate Bourbonic.
That was followed by a second-to-last-place finish as the second-longest shot on the board in the Kentucky Derby. It was evident that a vacation was in order.
Friday, following a 90-day layoff, Dynamic One returned a new and improved horse, rallying from last under Irad Ortiz Jr. to win the $120,000 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga to likely earn a spot in the starting gate for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes here Aug. 28.
Dynamic One, a son of Union Rags, beat the lightly raced Miles D by 1 3/4 lengths. It was seven lengths back to the previously undefeated First Captain, who was sent off the 6-5 favorite after winning the Grade 3 Dwyer earlier this month. Harvard was fourth, followed by Snow House, Collaborate, and Beren.
The win was just the second in seven starts for Dynamic One, who was purchased as a yearling for $725,000 by Mike Repole and Vinnie and Teresa Viola, who then let the Phipps family, the colt’s breeders, buy back in.
“He always trained like a good horse, we felt like maybe he needed a little more time,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We did the right thing after the Derby and gave him a nice freshening, and it paid off today.”
Ortiz came to the paddock with a plan to take Dynamic One off the pace and try to get to get to the rail from the seven post. He was successful in doing that but was 7 1/2 lengths off the pace after Snow House and Beren set a contested pace of 47.34 seconds for the opening half-mile.
First Captain, under Jose Ortiz was fifth, outside of Harvard, down the backside.
When Jose Ortiz began to move First Captain, he was floated out six to seven wide turning for home by Collaborate, who came wide into the stretch.
Irad Ortiz was able to remain four paths wide and make his move through a wide opening in the stretch. Dynamic One, who had been following Miles D, had a narrow advantage over that one in midstretch and was able to widen it through the final furlong.
Dynamic One covered the 1 1/8 miles over a good track in 1:49.36 and returned $8.50 as the second choice.
“From the half-mile to the three-eighths I started working my way out because horses in front of me started coming back,” Irad Ortiz said. “After that, I waited for the right moment to roll because he’s the kind of horse that before he liked to wait on horses a little bit. His mind is better right now because when he went by them he kept going.”
There have been 11 previous runnings of the Curlin, and only one winner, V. E. Day in 2014, came back to win the Travers. Pletcher, whose previous two Curlin winners – Outplay and Turbo Compressor – didn’t run in the Travers, said Dynamic One would most likely be pointed to the Mid-Summer Derby.
“He definitely showed he’s capable of stepping up, he gave us everything we could have hoped for today,” Pletcher said.
Miles D, a son of Curlin, was making just his third career start and first since winning a maiden race on June 12. Trainer Chad Brown said his horse likely did enough to warrant a trip to the Travers.
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“He has a lot of upside,” Brown said. “It was only his third start, he galloped out right with the horse that won. I wouldn’t think an extra eighth would be a problem, it’s just a matter of how tough will the race be.”
Jose Ortiz said he would have preferred to have been a little closer early on aboard First Captain. He also didn’t want to go seven wide in the stretch, but said that didn’t cost him the race.
“I came around [Collaborate] and he switched leads but he gave me just a little run,” Ortiz said. “He didn’t fire today.”